There were so many great bands playing this year, in particular, Blood & Ink records did a B&I family and friends day at the Solace Stage (which spanned two different days).  What was cool about this show is that it included such great B&I bands as Venia, Jawbone, Friends, Dependency, Thin Ice, Ironwill, Thirtyseven, Divide The Sea, and Debtor, but also bands including Cool Cough (side project of the guys from Call To Preserve), Strengthen What Remains, Beggars, Call to Preserve, Messengers, Dynasty, and Gideon (whom are not on the B&I label).  What makes the fact that this was going on extra cool is the fact that our tent was wedged in between Solace Stage and Legacy Stage where all of these great shows were taking place.

Some of the highlights of the week were the following:

1.  Meeting so many of you that visit our site and post on the forum, and finally meeting many of the bands we interview in person and getting to know everyone better.

2.  Catching a few Dynasty sets.  I (Josh) really like this band and I think they are solid, their testimony is also very moving.  I think I almost broke my hand and wrist when I was dancing and clobbered some poor kid right over the head.  Turns out my hand is OK, if the kid I hit is reading this, sorry, hope you are OK!

3.  Getting Officer Negative to play the Legacy Stage on Thursday may have been a highlight of the week as well.  I knew of the band, but have never really listened to many of their songs.  Hanging with Chad (the singer) and Justin, Casey, and Rick (who was filling in on drums) was great, awesome bunch of guys, strong in the Lord.  It was awesome to watch everyone getting into their set, singing along, and dancing like a bunch of maniacs.  Plus, I am sporting my new Officer Negative shirt today!

Officer Negative – “JCHC” on Legacy Stage

Click here to view the embedded video.

4.  Final Call To Preserve sets at Cornerstone, while everyone is bummed that these guys are breaking up, it was cool to catch their last shows at Cornerstone.  I picked up their 7″ “Validation” as well, which I highly recommend everyone go and pick up.  These guys have grown musically over the years.  It was also fun to see Cool Cough, their side band with Harbor singing, and John playing guitar.  Good stuff.

5.  Debtor’s new material is awesome, nuff said.  The guys in the band are super cool, easy to talk with, and they blew up every set with their new songs.  Go and buy their new album Bloodseeds and Blood & Ink Records.

6.  Catching a full Graverobber set.  If you have not seen these guys live, then you are missing out.  They are like the Misfits of the Christian punk world, their music is tight, and their stage show is extremely entertaining.  Just a word of advice, if they are singing any song that includes the word “blood” in the title, run for cover.  Catch their midnight shows, way more fun then their daytime shows.

7.  True Liberty and FBS – again, both of these bands just keep getting better, and they are both tons of fun to hang with.  Make sure to catch them live if they happen to be coming through your town.

8.  Branching out – I checked out A Hill To Die Upon, I am not normally a metal fan, but these guys are actually really really decent, and when I listen to their stuff, there is a heavy undertone of hardcore in it.  Go and check them out.

9.  Strengthen What Remains and Clear Convictions – their split set was probably one of the most fun sets at Cornerstone.  Strengthen What Remains is out of Florida and the guys in the band are among some of the coolest you will meet.  Their music just keeps getting better and better.  Clear Convictions came all the way from Puerto Rico to play Cornerstone.  I was pissed that so many people slept on the this band during their set on Texas Stage, but I was glad that I was able to tape the set (check out video page).  Both of these bands are signed to On The Attack Records run by our friend Sammy.  Love you guys!  Make sure that you pick up both of their albums from On The Attack, worth every penny, and how often do you see the record label owner in the pit???  Now that is support for your bands!

Clear Convictions Set from Texas Stage

Click here to view the embedded video.

10.  Discovering new bands that everyone needs to check out.  Beggars, With Increase, Blackhole.

And number 11.  The super secret show at the barn.  WOW, Debtor and Beggars both played a set, and then there were three cover sets including songs by Minor Threat, Advent, Seventh Star, and Shockwave.  This was by far THE best show, held in the storage shed by the skate park.  There where probably two hundred people that showed up and only enough room for 50 in the venue.  I was lucky enough to get up in the storage rafters to tape some of the show.  It was insane.  And as one of the guys from Debtor told me, “I just had a huge smile on face the whole time cause it was so awesome.”  I agree that it was awesome and I think there should be more intimate shows at Cornerstone like this.  Check the video page for coverage of the event.  Sorry you missed it!
Over all, the event was great, seemed fewer people were there this year, actually seemed kind of empty this year.  Rumors are floating around that they may not have Cornerstone next year because they did not sell enough tickets this year.  I say, don’t listen to rumors and sit tight, they may change the look and feel of Cornerstone next year, but I find it hard to believe they will altogether cancel the event, it touches so many people’s lives.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thanks for all your support and for everyone that stopped in to say hello, your kind words and blessing edify what we do and why we do it. Until next year, God bless and be safe!

Check out our video page for more videos, you can find our youtube channel here, and make sure to “like” us on Facebook!

Josh and the HXCChristian.com crew (John, RJ, Katie, Seann, Doug and special helpers like Mike!)

And one more fun video of the “best of” Cornerstone!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Doug (one of the contributors at HXCChristian.com) did a pre-show in Campbellsville, KY the Sunday before Cornerstone.  I drove 9 hours to get to Campbellsville, it was an easy trip.  The show was awesome.  Doug is working with the University to put on show for all the kids and peeps in the area.  Apparently, like most small towns, there isn’t a whole lot to do there, so putting on shows is a great way to blow off steam and stay out of trouble.  The lineup was Restore the Roar (Doug’s band), Debtor (Philly hardcore), Worker (Tennessee hardcore), Dead Icons (Lexington hardcore), and The Showdown (Metal).  I was really impressed with Debtor and Worker (Debtor is a Christian band, Worker is not although their message is positive, and the dudes in the band are really cool).  It was a fun show, and I was glad that HXCChristian.com could be part of it.  After the show, RJ (HXCChristian.com contributor) thought it would best to drive straight through the night to Cornerstone.  I think Doug and I could have strangled RJ when we got to Cornerstone at 6:30 AM and the gates weren’t open, but we forgive RJ (just kidding RJ).  When we got in, we immediately found our tent and started to setup.  We made homemade Gatorade (DIY hardcore style baby) and were a place to just come and hang.  We later became known as the place that made good food and usually had leftovers.

General Mayhem and Trouble from the HXCChristian.com at Cornerstone 2010

Click here to view the embedded video.

The first couple of days were a blur, meeting people and going to shows, sleep deprivation.  In the first couple of days, I saw Debtor, Call To Preserve, Send out the Scuds, True Liberty, The Meek Estate, and probably one of my favorite shows The Great Commission (where I decided to throw my old butt off the stage).  My man Micah at The Legacy Stage really put on a lot of the best shows, he kept the stage limited to traditional hardcore for the most part.  Good job Micah!  Look for good stuff from this stage next year.  Thin Ice and Dependency (new to Blood & Ink records) both played multiple shows and were fantastic.  I highly recommend picking up their albums from Blood & Ink, well worth it.  I was fortunate to catch the Grave Robber show at midnight at the Sanctuary stage which was right next to us.  It was hard to miss it actually, quite and interesting band, if you like The Misfits and other type horror punk, then these guys will make you happy, plus their stage act is really unique.

Check out the Cornerstone 2010 Video Page

The second half the week I started to get used to the confusion and get my wits about me.  I was tired from getting into the pit, and I proved to myself that a 35 year old dude can still throw down in the pit and handle himself.  I think I even out danced some of the younger kids!  The Sleeping Giant show was awesome, I had a run in with the Holy Spirit, I am sure people thought I was crazy, but I was moved, and God touched me.  Their set was great as usual, and they played a new song, and honestly, I was not that crazy about it.  However, sometimes playing new material live is tough because you cannot get a feel for what a clean recording of it sounds like. Look for new stuff from Thom Green and the gang soon.   Also, the Great Commission rocked another show on the Undergound Stage, it was awesome, they also played a new song, it was decent.  I think there is some big stuff coming down the pike from these guys, I think they have been working on new material.  The last day was the craziest, I went from show to show to show.  Mason Summers (my punk friends), to Thin Ice, to Sovereign Strength, to All Or Nothing (what up Laz?), to Call To Preserve, back to back to back.  Then, it seemed as soon as we got there, we were gone.  Doug and I traveled together from Kentucky.  Doug is a cool dude, and we laughed the whole way home and told stories about shows and the people we met.

I think that the best stuff of the week was some of the punk bands, True Liberty, Desiring Dead Flesh, The Meek Estate, The Last Hope, Flatfoot 56, Mason Summers.  The only ska band there, Send Out The Scuds (I love these guys, and girl!)  had to get my skanking in, and I miss good ska! In the hardcore world, I don’t think I saw one bad band.  Thin Ice, Dependency, The Great Commission, Call To Preserve, Wild at Heart, Strengthen What Remains, Strength Within, Sovereign Strength, Debtor, Venia, All Or Nothing, Take It Back.  All bands that you need to check out.  One band in particular from Pittsburg, Those Who Fear.  I was happy to hear a band that is still playing old style beatdown hardcore.  These guys are awesome, and the dudes in the band are cool guys, so check them out.  Plus they had a turtle named XSteveX.  They kept me entertained.

We were lucky to have meet and greets with some of the bands, Andy from A Plea For Purging came by in the morning to discuss the band and life in general, it was cool.  Leroy the singer from War Of Ages also came out and did a meet and greet, great guy with a great story.  On Wednesday night we decided to do a spaghetti dinner, I think we cooked 30 pounds of spaghetti and made about 10 gallons of sauce.  I think everyone enjoyed the meal and fellowship.  I think we fed about 200 people.  On Thursday morning we did a meet and greet with Harbor from Call to Preserve and a pancake breakfast. Again, we had a huge turnout, more people that pancakes, but again, it was a huge success.  I am glad that we could be a blessing to the people and bands.  That was our mission, and I am glad that we accomplished it.

We had to leave a day early.  My family was sick at home.  Funny how Satan can attacks your weak spots when you are closest to God, he was attacking my family, coward.  The ride home was long, but gave me a lot of time to decompress and think about the experience.  I realized that Cornerstone is not really about the music, but about the people.  The people are what makes it worthwhile.  I met a lot of great people and even talked to people who were not Christians about Christ.  On the long trip back after I dropped off Doug in Kentucky,  I cried, half tears of happiness that I would be seeing my wife and two beautiful sons, the other half for the all the new friends that I would not see perhaps until next year.

Take a Look at the HXCChristian.com Cornerstone 2010 Photos

Takeaways – Lots of cool people, finding out that different genres of people still have the same core beliefs, that Christ is King.  Great shows, I can still throwdown in the pit.  People love free food, especially Eastern style BBQ (NC BBQ).  The bands are really cool and fun to hang out with, if there is a band coming to your area, go hang with them.  They usually hang in the parking lot behind the venue, go introduce yourself.  Bring them some goodies, food, baby wipes, stuff they might need, let them crash at your place, have a shower, do laundry, etc. help them load and unload their gear.  Metalcore and screamo still suck.  Ska needs to make a comeback.  Punk is alive and well.  Don’t use megaphones at Cornerstone or security will come and cart you away (see below). Have fun and fellowship with you future neighbors in heaven, after all, we will all be together in heaven forever!

God bless and thanks for everyone who came out and visited us.  See you next year.  Join the forum.

Josh

NEW RELEASES AND UPCOMING RELEASES

The Red Baron – A 5 piece hardcore band out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida has announced that they are now taking preorders for their upcoming EP called “My First Love.” From what we know here at HXCChristian.com, this is the bands first full length album. The album is being released on Blood & Ink Records. The official release date is April 7th. Here is what the band says about the album “We’re really excited about this album. A lot went to each song, spiritually speaking. We’re really proud of how honest and real this album is.” You can go reserve your copy here. They have a pretty cool package deal (which seems to be the new thing) where you can get a Tshirt or tank top as part of your order. If you want to learn more about the band, we did an interview with Phil and Chase, you can read it here. You can go to The Red Baron’s myspace page and listen to one of their new tracks called “Grace is for Falling.” I am sure that we will see these guys on tour soon, they have some dates up in the Southeast on the their myspace page, go and check them out if they are coming to your town.

Josh from XLooking ForwardX posted a bulletin on myspace a while back saying that he wanted to put together a new project. It sounds like the project is starting to get some legs. Safe to say that a lot of people are really excited to see what Josh puts together. The name of the band is “Back to the Garden.” Here is the blog post from the XLooking ForwardX page from Josh:

“My new project is officially named Back To The Garden. All of us in this new band felt it was appropriate, since this band reflects a bit of a spiritual regrouping for those involved. We want to focus on a message of love and grace, and at the same time, create something that we really enjoy.

Kevin and I are just starting the lyrics, but we have the music for four songs laid out. It’s coming together quickly, but we’re not trying to rush anything. Everyone is still getting used to each other yet, but the confidence is clearly building with each practice.

The vocals are the next big project. I know that it’s really going to shape the way the band is perceived, but I want to try to stick to the script of no screaming. We have toyed with the idea of some Orange 9mm or Downset-style vocal delivery in parts, but we’ll likely stop short of anything beyond that level of aggression in the vocals.

The level of aggression in the music is another story. The music is super heavy, but has some subtle melodic elements. There are definitely some breakdowns in there, and I’m real happy with how we were able to work them into the plan. As to whether it will be something hardcore kids can get into, well, I can’t say for sure, but I can say that there will be no shortage of dance opportunities.

I’ll probably set up a myspace for the band soon. It will still be a while yet before we post any material up, though. As I’ve said before, I want to make the first impression count.

I’ll keep posting updates every now and then. Thanks for reading! Take care.”

Josh

Venia – A 5 piece hardcore band from Minnesota says that it has completed recording of its new album to be relased at a future date on Blood & Ink Records. We are bigs fans of Venia here and really like their music, plus, ask anyone in the hardcore scene that knows the band and they will tell you that they are the hardest working band out there. They are ALWAYS on tour, I call it “eternal tour.” They have a clip of one of their new songs within the “Sideburns Tim” update (whom is missing his sideburns oddly enough). It sounds phenominal.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Great Commission – A 6 piece hardcore band out of Redlands/Grand Terrace, California, released their first full length on Strike First Records. The name of the album is “And Every Knee Shall Bow.” If you picked up their demo they had for sale, then you are in for a real treat. I personally thought the demo was really rough, but still a great set of songs. From what I understand, it was recorded in a church santuary with all members playing at the same time. Well, the new album with it is production value is incredible. You can go and check out some of their new tracks on their myspace page the name of the tracks are “Let Your Kingdom Come,” (featuring JR from Sleeping Giant) and “I Dub City” (featuring Eric from XDeathStarX). Both great tracks. You can go and purchase their album on the Strike First website.

Irish styled punk/Oi! band Flatfoot 56 is working on putting out another album. I have heard through sources that they are playing some of their new songs at their shows. I hear that their new material is awesome. No word on when their new album will be out, but I am sure I will post something on it when it drops. You care read about the upcoming album here.

I am sure there is a lot more that I have missed, if so, please email me info at Josh @ HXCChristian. com and I can post it in the next batch of news.

ON TOUR

Strongarm – Classic Christian hardcore band from Florida is not really on tour, but I thought this was news worthy.  Jason Berggren (former lead singer of Strongarm) will be playing a Strongarm tribute show at the Cornerstone Festival this year in Illinois.  The band Life In Your Way will be performing back up as the band.  Jason and Life In Your Way will be performing songs off of both Strongarm albums.  Jason also recently published a book called “10 Things I Hate About Christianity; Walking Through the Frustrations of Faith.”  To learn more about Jason’s new book, he setup a blog called http://www.10thingsihate.com/.  I look forward to reading the book and posting a review.

Call to Preserve is playing with Reign Supreme & Madball. I got to hang with the guys in Call To Preserve all afternoon and treated them to dinner at the BBQ Lodge here in Raleigh. Great guys with great stories and a lot of fun to hang out with. I think the most fun was hanging in the parking lot with Call To Preserve, the guys from Reign Supreme, and watching Freddy Madball play soccer with all the guys. Never thought I would go to a hardcore show and see Freddy Madball playing soccer. The show was great, but the crowd was small, which doesn’t surprise me because the hardcore scene in general here in North Carolina is slowly growing. You can check out Call To Preserve’s myspace page for tour dates, and let they guys crash at your house if you can, they would love it! See the pics below.

Venia is STILL on tour (do these guys ever quit?). These guys are machines. They are doing another tour that will cover most of North America again. I asked them if they ever stop touring, their answer….”nope we never stop touring. We hate being home.” (they were kidding of course). To check and see if Venia is coming to a town near you, go to the Venia myspace page.

All Or Nothing – A hardcore band out of Hollister, California is gearing up for a nationwide tour starting in the next couple of days. They have a pretty beefy schedule. They also just released their new album available on Ethos Records. Go and check them out if you like your hardcore mixed with a little metal. These guys are brutal, but love Jesus. If you want to give them a try, visit the All Or Nothing myspace page.

The Red Baron has dates posted outside of Florida. Looks like mainly the Southeast at this point, but we would bet they probably tour with the release of the new album. You can check their tour dates on their myspace page.

Christian punk band Fight Before Surrender is headed to Europe (well the UK at least), so if you are in the UK, then go and support these guys. Their tour starts April 1st and wraps up on April 9th (at least that is what is on their myspace page). They are also recording a new album as well, no word on it yet though. Go to FBS’ myspace page to check dates.

CALLING IT QUITS

XSolidarityX from Sacramento is calling it quits – great guys, great music, they will be missed. Go and check out their myspace page and pick up their full length it is worth it. Here is the link to the XSolidarityX myspace page.

Take care and God bless – Keep it HARDCORE!